Please note: The HF course in industrial engineering was discontinued in 2021. Operational engineering content and skills are now taught as part of the "Process Technician HF" course, in some cases still with the option of a school-specific specialization. Those who successfully complete the course will receive the federally recognized title of "qualified process technician HF".

Note: Since fall 2022, the HF technician courses (formerly "HF technician specialization") have been given a separate framework curriculum and a new title for each specialization. For example, the course "Techniker HF Unternehmensprozesse" is now called "Prozesstechniker HF". In addition, the specializations have been abolished.

People with a qualification as HF Technician in Business Processes (now HF Process Technician) have the following opportunities for further development:

• Courses and offers from associations, higher technical colleges and universities of applied sciences
• University of Applied Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science (FH) in Business Administration
  • Bachelor of Science (FH) in Systems Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science (FH) in Computer Science
• Postgraduate level at universities of applied sciences and universities of applied sciences in areas such as
  • Business administration
  • Corporate management
  • Project management
  • Logistics
  • Supply Chain & Operations Management
  • International Logistics Management

Process technicians HF (formerly company process technicians HF) perform the following tasks:

• demanding specialist, project management and leadership tasks in commercial, industrial and service companies in the area of corporate processes
• Develop and optimize processes in operating technology or logistics - depending on the chosen specialization
• systematically collect and analyze all relevant data in their area on aspects such as costs, deadlines and quality
• make optimum use of existing resources
• Control work processes, information and material flows for economically competitive operations
• find out about trends in the industry and the current market situation
• Finding and implementing solutions to improve operational processes
• Quality assurance for company processes

Please note: Since 2022, process engineering has been taught as part of the HF course "Dipl. Prozesstechniker HF / dipl. Prozesstechnikerin HF". The contents of the HF process technology course are sometimes named differently by the various schools and depend on the specializations offered; they basically cover

• Corporate management
• Work processes and techniques
• Logistics, Supply Chain Management
• Production and quality management
• Lean management
• Business administration
• English

Studying to become a process technician (formerly HF company process technician) teaches you the following:

• Mathematics / Technical Statistics
• Processes and projects
• Corporate management / personnel management
• Quality and environmental management
• Work organization
• Product development / product maintenance
• Change management
• Organization
• Management systems
• Process simulation
• IT for business processes
• Product management

There are various ways to gain admission to an HF program in process engineering:

• Relevant federal certificate of proficiency (EFZ)
• Other EFZ or Matura and relevant professional experience
• Equivalent qualification as listed above and corresponding professional experience

In addition:

• During the part-time process technician HF training: at least 50% employment in the relevant field.
• Depending on the school: entrance examination or aptitude test and/or attendance of a preliminary course, for example in mathematics.